Borough President Marks

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz last week celebrated Jam-aican Independence Day and hosted a reception in commemoration of Jam-aica’s 40th anniversary at Borough Hall. A congratulatory proclamation was presented to the Honorable Dr. Ba-sil Bryan, Consulate General of Jamai-ca on August 7.

"Brooklyn is home to the largest population of Jamaicans outside of Ja-maica, and is proudly known as the Jamaican capital of the America. There-fore, it is fitting that Brooklyn play its part in the weeklong celebration of Ja-maica’s independence," said Borough President Marty Markowitz.

"It was important this year to stage a celebratory event in Brooklyn, since so many Jamaican Brooklynites live and work in Brooklyn. We wanted them to share in the festivities as well, and Brook-lyn Borough Hall is a fitting location for this historic event," said Consu-late, General Dr. Basil K. Bryan.

Jamaica officially gained Indepen-dence on August 6, 1962. As an independent country, Jamaica’s government gained new responsibilities, which in-clude: taking over the island’s affairs mission, previously handled by the Bri-tish Government, and appointing representatives overseas; creating a defense force to keep and maintain law and order; establishing defense agreements with powerful countries to ensure protection, and more importantly, the fu-ture of each citizen and the future of the country is now in the hands of the government. Independence also made Jamaica eligible for membership in the United States Nations.

Brooklyn hosted related events throughout the week, culminating on Saturday with a Grand Independence Ball hosted by Dr. Bryan.